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I read one article on the history of the chemicals sector in South Africa. It listed most things I knew about. Like its birth in the late 19th century and the role apartheid played in the structure of the chemicals sector today and how that has affected global competitiveness...
Then as I wanted to see what& #39;s going on in the industry as of late and most especially post democracy, I got pulled into a hole of more and more articles about our potential in terms of abundance mineral resources that& #39;s not realised because of skill shortage ...
and a number of other reasons. Basically the snail paced growth in beneficiation projects is holding us back quite badly.
For example the fluorochemicals industry. SA has the second largest fluorspar deposits in the world. But 95% of this mineral is exported at about $0.45/kg. At the end of its value chain this mineral as a specialty product fetches a price in excess of $30/kg...
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The fluorochemicals industry is about a $16bn industry but because we export and have such low levels of beneficiation in the country, we earn only 0.3% of this amount.... https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😭" title="Laut schreiendes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Laut schreiendes Gesicht">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😭" title="Laut schreiendes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Laut schreiendes Gesicht">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😭" title="Laut schreiendes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Laut schreiendes Gesicht">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😭" title="Laut schreiendes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Laut schreiendes Gesicht">
The lack of researchers and skilled professionals has always been listed as the main contributor to our slow paced industrial growth. In SA there is 1 engineer for every 2114 people which contrasts with the 1 engineer per 200 people avg in developing countries.
Basically we have the potential to grow a market that could largely improve our GDP, employment and economic standing. We& #39;re just not there yet. And that made me sad....
